


Somewhere To Call Home

by brainstorm



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Hybrid!Niall, M/M, a pinch of larry if you squint, hybrid!harry, it's mostly awkward situations and fluff, the rest of them are normal, this is the weirdest thing I've ever written but oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-23
Updated: 2014-09-23
Packaged: 2018-02-18 13:09:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2349539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brainstorm/pseuds/brainstorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Liam hears a strage noise and decides to check, he could have never expected what he found, let alone growing so fond of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somewhere To Call Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [niamcuddles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/niamcuddles/gifts).



> this was supposed to be posted yesterday but shit happened in the middle and here I am posting it today as a present for my dear friend niamcuddles. this is the most awkward present you'll recieve, you've been warned! (this is a hybrid story because that is something we talked in the past and I thought I should give it a try. not that I succeeded.)

Liam’s twenty two. Very young for the job he has. One he doesn’t even know how he managed to land but he did anyway. He worked for a big company, in the administration department, he had a long way to go yet, but he wanted to be the CEO of the company someday. Dreaming’s for free, isn’t it? Now, back to the topic, Liam made some good money, he wasn’t rich, not by any means, but he had his own flat, his own car and he could afford whatever little thing he wanted to buy if he felt like it.

He was extremely sporty too, he liked football, basketball, most of the time he wasn’t working he was at the gym. He wasn’t obsessive with his looks, but he cared enough about the way he looked.

The company had arranged a football tournament that started some weeks ago and it was organized by sectors, and so far, his team was winning. He loved playing football, yes, but he wasn’t that great at it, he admitted it, but they had Tommo on their team and he was _great_ at it, so that was probably the biggest factor contributing to their winnings.

It was now the late afternoon, the sun was already mostly gone, and he was on his way home from their match, and as always, he decided to walk, he just used his car for going to work or special occasions, but other than that, he’d rather walk.

The pitch in which they had played wasn’t that far away from his flat, but it was in the opposite direction in which most of his friends lived, so he was making his walk home alone now. His phone started vibrating in his pocket a second before it started ringing, so he took it out and sighed when he realized it was Louis calling him. What did he want now, he just saw him twenty minutes ago.

“Louis,” he answered the call with a ‘what do you want’ tone, not even bothering to say hello.

“Yeah, great to talk to you too, mate,” his friend snorted from the other side of the phone.

“I’ve just seen you, what can be so important that you needed to call me before I even got home?” he rolled his eyes as he kept walking.

“I wanted to remind you about tomorrow’s meeting, plea-“

“Louis,” Liam cut him mid sentence with a deep, fed up sigh, “you told me a million times already, I’m not going to forget about it.”

“I know, I just wanted to make sure you won’t.”

“I won’t, and you’re still going to see me tomorrow at the office before it so was it really necessary to call me right now? Seriously, Louis.”

“I know, I just really want this to go as planned,” Louis explained from the other side of the line.

“Shit-“ Liam cursed suddenly, “it’s starting to rain, was it even cloudy before?” he complained but it was more of a comment to himself, as he covered his head with his hood, now that he was thinking about it, it had kind been really humid and horrible the whole day, “anyway, you’re gonna get this, Tommo, don’t worry about it,” he tried to calm his friend down. Louis was about to get promoted, but there had to be up to vote first, and Liam was pretty sure his friend was going to get it, Louis has been working hard for it.

“I hope you’re right, you know I can use the money for the house now.”

“I still don’t know why you needed to do so many reparations, your house was fine already.”

“I just want it to look modern and-“

“Sh,” Liam suddenly stopped him, “what’s-“ he had also stopped walking, trying to find out where that noise had came from, it was like… a whimper.

“Liam? What’s happened?” his friend asked, suddenly worried.

 “I heard something,” he explained cautiously.

“You what?!” Louis whispered yelled into the phone, “get out of there then, mate!”

“No, not like that,” Liam was looking around now, the rain starting to get heavier, “like- like someone’s hurt, like a cry or somet- there it is again!” another whimper came from a distance, “I’ll call you later, alright Tommo? Bye.”

“But Lia-“ Louis started talking but he hung up on him.

He looked around, but no one was there, he lived in a pretty quiet part of London, where there were mostly houses except for a few buildings, one of them in which he had his flat. He walked round the corner where there was one of those large trash cans and heard something moving. Alright, now he wasn’t sure if this was a good idea but somehow he couldn’t stop his feet from moving towards this container.

Another soft cry came from it and then Liam moved forward, barely sticking his head to look into it and what he saw was definitely not what he was expecting to. It was a boy, he wasn’t looking up at him and his body was curled up into a ball and shaking slightly. So should he say something or…?

“Hey,” he whispered, trying not to scare the boy, slowly inching his hand to touch his shoulder and the boy flinched away with a whimper, wrapping his arms tighter around his legs and burying his face deeper between his knees. “Hey hey,” Liam tried again, “I’m not trying to hurt you, are you okay?”

The boy, who had blonde hair, by the way, and his clothes seemed to be really dirty (apart from the fact that he was sitting inside a trash container), didn’t move, just stayed still. Liam didn’t know what to do, maybe he lived on the streets? Maybe he was running away from something? Maybe he just got in a fight and- _oh_. He had a tail. And now that he focused, he could see a bit of his ears hidden in between all his hair. A hybrid, now it all made sense.

Hybrids had been such a controversial topic until not long ago. He had never met one, no, but that was because they were all locked up, not because they were dangerous, but because scientists used them for studies. They had been studying them for years, decades maybe, they caught them and had them all locked up in laboratories, who knew how they treated them.

But that was until a couple of weeks ago, in which the government approved a law that put an end to that treatment, because even if they didn’t like them, if they weren’t “normal” per se, they were still people with feelings, and actual families. Just that for the past time, they didn’t have kind of education or a purpose on society, at least not yet because they had been freed not long ago. Liam knew stories, about hybrids being sold as pets or slaves in the past, which he thought it was cruel but maybe it was better than living your whole life in a fucking lab as an experiment.

Back to reality, Liam stood there watching the kid as the rain poured over him, wetting all his clothes, “hey,” he tried again, he was starting to feel like a damn broken record, “I really just want to help you, I promise I won’t hurt you okay, can you get out of there?” he spoke softly, he felt like whoever this boy was, was going to freak out and lock himself in there in that really uncomfortable position.

A couple of seconds passed until something happened, and when it did, the boy slowly lifted his head, just a bit though, his eyes peaking up from where they were hiding to his knees. Liam’s breath caught in his throat, blue eyes, a kind of blue he’s never seen before, were looking up at him with such terror in his eyes he couldn’t describe. He’s never seen someone so afraid, and he just saw his eyes.

“Do you want me to help you out?” Liam tried a small, polite smile as he extended his hand for him to take.

The boy blinked at him, not moving from his position but Liam didn’t move his hand away, he kept it up for maybe thirty seconds or maybe three minutes, he didn’t know, but after the blue eyes had stared at him for that long, the boy slowly started to move from his position, slowly raising his hand to take the one he was being offered.

“That’s it,” Liam encouraged the boy who was standing up at a slow speed, he seemed to have problems moving, but Liam didn’t mention anything yet.

The boy stumbled when he was getting out of the container, almost falling face to the floor but Liam caught him on time, “you’re fine, I got you,” he smiled. And then he looked at him, this boy couldn’t be older than sixteen, maybe seventeen tops. Now what was he supposed to do?

Liam walked to under a roof, helping the boy moving with him as he just stared up at him, his eyes still showed fear but at least he wasn’t hiding anymore. Liam inspected the boy quickly, his clothes were extremely dirty but other than that he looked fine… fine as in, no scratches or bruises, he also looked very tired, but nothing too serious. He was so, so skinny though, his clothes hanging from this body for being too big on him.

The rain was heavier, and suddenly there was a loud sound, a thunder, and the boy whimpered and jumped a little. Damn, how was he supposed to get home like this, it was a few blocks away but you could barely see around with all the water pouring down, that was one of the times he wished he had used his car.

“Do you have a phone to call home?” he started asking, which was stupid, really, if he did, he probably wouldn’t be hiding a trash container, so when he didn’t answer and just blinked at him, he went for something a bit more direct, “where do you live?” he asked him still with a soft voice, he didn’t want to disturb the boy because he just looked so scared already, it was a miracle he hadn’t ran away yet. The boy with the blue eyes just looked down at his feet and Liam swore he saw something like sadness flash them but he didn’t say a word. “Do you not, uhm… do you not have a home?” he risked asking but the boy didn’t answer, he didn’t even lift his head to look at him, he just wrapped his arms around himself. He guessed that meant no. And it made sense if he thought about it, after all, hybrids had been freed not long ago, where did they all go? Well, he had an answer now.

They stayed static for a moment, none of them moving or talking, even though Liam has been the only one to talk so far. And he was considering all the options, he couldn’t just leave now, he had to do something, where could he take this boy now? A hospital? A shelter? He was considering taking him home with him, but he’s never taken a stranger there, and he didn’t know this boy at all. What if this was all an act? What if he was trying to trick him into something to rob him or something?

But the fear in his eyes though… that had been so real, this boy couldn’t be acting, he was hurt and he was scared and with nowhere to go.

“Do you want me to take you home with me?” he whispered almost inaudible, still not sure if this was the right thing to do but something inside him told him it’ll be okay. The boy didn’t even flinch, and Liam was starting to think he didn’t completely understand everything he was asking him. He took a step forward, placing his hand on the boy’s shoulder and immediately felt him tense up so he draw it away, “I won’t hurt you, I promise, I just want to help you,” he repeated himself as he already told him this before, “you can come with me and you can take a warm shower and get some food, yes?” he spoke slow and soft.

That seemed to catch the boy’s interest because his ears perked up a little from under his hair and he lifted his face to look at him shyly at the mention of food. 

“You want food?” Liam asked with a small, honest smile then, and the boy gave a short nod, still looking at him with fear in his eyes. Liam didn’t understand why he stayed though, if he was that scared; but if he had nothing like he said, then he had nothing to lose either.

The rain had barely stopped, but at least he could see a bit more clear now, “come with me then,” he extended his hand for the boy to take and the boy moved his eyes from his face to his hand, staring at it for a moment before slowly raising his hand to brush Liam’s hand. He was hesitant, Liam noticed but didn’t do anything, instead he just waited for the boy to grasp his hand properly, and when he did, Liam smiled at him.

“I’m Liam,” he explained to introduce himself, “what’s your name?” he tried to sound as polite as he could but the boy just looked down and shook his head. No? What did that even mean? That he didn’t have a name? That he didn’t know his name? That he didn’t want to tell Liam? Whatever, he was done, better to get this over with, he just wanted to get home.

“Alright, we’ll go now, yes? We’re gonna have to run a bit, can you do that?” he asked and the blonde nodded still looking down, “alright, let’s go then.”

He stepped into the rain again, quickly checking if the blonde boy was following him but suddenly stopped, an idea popping into his head, “actually, wait-“ he stepped under the roof again, “I’m gonna go get my car and come pick you up, you stay here, okay?” he let go of the boy’s hand and inspected his face but didn’t get an answer back, “okay, just stay here, I’ll be back in a moment.”

And then he was stepping out of the rain, running as fast as he could while trying not to slip. His flat was only two blocks away now, pretty close but he still made sure to check when he crossed the streets, and to watch his step. In any other situation, if he were with friends, he’ll probably be laughing at how stupid it’d be to be running under the rain, but this was a different thing, this was a bit nerve wrecking and he didn’t know what to expect to happen next. He just found a boy, a _hybrid_ , and he doesn’t even talk! Maybe he couldn’t talk at all?

He stopped when he reached the building, bending to rest his hands on his knees and tried to steady his breath. He entered the building’s garage, running to his car, opening the door and sitting in front of the wheel, not really caring that his clothes were completely wet and then stopped for a second, what was he even doing? He was about to bring a homeless someone, into his home, was he willing to take that risk?

His head kept going round and round the thought, hesitating and doubting about his choice but he’s always been real to his word and the boy looked like he couldn’t hurt a fly even if he wanted to. So he stopped thinking about it and placed the key in the ignition and then he was off. He drove to the corner in which he had left the boy and it was empty, no one was there. He sighed. He knew this could happen, but just to be sure, he got out of the car and to under the roof he had been standing moments before, and looked around. The container. He walked towards it just as he did before and opened it, finding the boy in the same exact position he was when he first found him and noticing his body tense.

“Why did you get in here again?” he asked confused and the boy looked up and a flash of relief appeared in his eyes. “Come on, my car’s here, we can go now.”

He helped the boy out, careful that he wouldn’t fall or slip and hurt himself and walked him to the car, opening the passenger door for him. Damn, he was going to have to clean the interior of his car or it was going to be all soaking wet after.

He ran back to the driver’s side and entered the car, throwing a glance to the blonde next to him before starting the car again and driving. Good thing it was a short drive because it was really awkward in there but he didn’t know what to say or what to ask, and this boy would probably not even talk to him. How frustrating.

 They made it to his building and Liam made it into the garage, stopping the car and getting out of it, then opening the door for the boy to get out, both of their clothes clinging to their bodies and he just wanted to get rid of this horrible wet clothes and get a warm shower, but maybe that’ll have to wait.

They made their way into the building, to the elevator and up to the fourth floor where his flat was and he opened the door, the other boy following him right behind.

“So,” he closed the door when they were inside and he watched the blonde look around, his tail barely swinging from side to side, “come with me and you can get a shower, yeah?”

The blonde just blinked at him and Liam sighed, walking further into his flat, the blonde right behind him.

“Stay here for a minute,” he signaled Niall to stay in the bathroom as he disappeared into another door.

He was back a minute later and already changed, he needed to get out of those horrible damp clothes, and with some other clothes for the blonde folded neatly in his arms, “I’m gonna leave these here, yes? You can put them on when you’re done and we’ll wash the one’s you’re wearing, okay?” he asked and just how everything has been going so far, he got no answer from the other boy. He sighed, “I’ll go make some food for you, you can eat when you’re done.” And then he was walking out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

He shook his head to himself as he entered the kitchen, his day has gone from completely normal to the exact opposite, because seriously, what was even happening? He was on his way back from a footie match and then all of a sudden he hears a sound and next thing he knows is he found a hybrid.

He rummaged around the kitchen for a minute before putting water to boil. He wasn’t going to do something too ‘gourmet’ anyways. He waited for a couple of minutes until the water was boiling to put the rice on it and all while still thinking what the hell was he supposed to do now. Where was he supposed to go and tell that he has a hybrid in his house? No one would care, not since they were free now. But shouldn’t they have looked for their families or something? You can’t just throw people on the streets! Because no matter what some people said, they were people and Liam agreed with them, they were people. Just… slightly different ones.

At some point during his internal monologue, he realized that there wasn’t any sound of the shower, no running water sound, so frowning slightly, he made his way to the bathroom, knocking on the door just to be polite but letting himself in. He didn’t know what to do with that he found. There he was, his new blonde friend, standing in the middle of the bathroom, staring with a sad and confused frown at the taps of the shower.

“Uhm… why haven’t you showered yet?” Liam asked still sporting a frown on his face, a confused one and the other boy gave a little jump, apparently not noticing Liam had entered the bathroom. He looked down though, looking sad. “Do you… do you not know how to use it?” Liam asked trying to hide his amusement because _really_?

The blonde didn’t answer, just blushed and looked down, making Liam sigh again. “Look,” he explained, moving his hand to the hot water tap and opening it, “see? That’s how you open it,” he said, watching the other boy’s face who was watching him attentively, “and that’s how you close it,” he said, turning the tap to the opposite direction until there wasn’t any more water falling, “okay? Want to do it yourself?” he stepped away from the shower, giving the blonde space to move closer to it himself.

The blonde opened the water slowly, watching the water fall down from the showerhead, then looking at Liam.

“That’s how you do it,” the brown haired boy smiled at him, “now, can you close it too?” he asked him and Niall looked to the tap again, turning it and the water stopped. “That’s great,” he nodded, “now there’s shampoo and conditioner there, you know what those are for?” the blonde just blinked at him, then nodded slightly, “okay, I left clothes for you to wear when you’re ready, I’m making food already- shit, I should check that, go shower now,” and then he almost run out of the bathroom, really, overcooked rice got all pasty and horrible, he hated that.

Liam heard the water start running as he was reaching the kitchen and then doubts started flooding his head again, maybe he should call Louis and ask him what to do. No, bad idea, Louis would yell at him. Maybe Zayn? What would Zayn even tell him though?

He strained the rice once it was ready and let it cool for a moment as he took out a few other stuff to make a salad, not even paying attention to what he was doing, his mind was too preoccupied with what was going on. Not only the fact that he didn’t know what to do but because he’s never felt so in need to help someone, he’s always been caring, yes, but right now he felt like he needed to take care of this boy. He looked so innocent and defenseless, how was he supposed to survive like that? For God’s sake, the boy didn’t even know how to use a shower!

He finished preparing the food and set it on the kitchen table along with plates and forks just as a fresh showered blonde boy appeared, a ball of wrinkled clothes in hand.

“Oh, give that to me,” Liam signaled with his hand to hand the clothes to him so he could wash them later, “you can sit,” he pointed to the chair as he walked to his small laundry room in his flat to leave the clothes there and he came back to the blonde sitting, watching the food with analyzing eyes and his tail pointing upwards and barely moving from side to side.

“Come on, let’s eat a bit, yeah? You hungry?” he asked as he took a seat in front of the boy, starting to serve the salad as the boy nodded.

He observed the blonde carefully as he took the fork and tried the food slowly, as if he was afraid of it, watching him chew it slowly and he suddenly made a keen sound that almost made Liam jump a bit, noticing the boy’s ears had perked up from his hair. Was that good then?

“You like it?” he questioned as he took a bit of food into his mouth then and the boy lifted his eyes from his plate to look at him for a second before nodding slightly and Liam smiled at him, “you can have all you want.”

It was actually nothing elaborated, just rice, tuna, peas and a bit of mayonnaise all mixed in a bowl but he wasn’t in the mood for cooking even though he could actually cook but this boy looked like he’s never eaten something like this, or some actual food at all; but then again, he was so skinny and God knows what he’s been through.

When he was done, Liam made sure to put more food in his place, and then his face actually changed for the first time, he didn’t look scared or hesitant but thankful, Liam thought he even saw a hint of a smile there.

“Thank you,” a very soft voice came suddenly and Liam almost fell from his chair. He looked up from his plate to the boy sitting in front of him and realized he was done, his plate was empty and he was looking at him now.

“You’re welcome,” he smiled and nodded.

He finished eating as the other boy just sat there looking around, looking surprised at everything. When he was done he took their plates and put them in the sink before walking out of the kitchen, the boy looking at him, “come on, we can watch a bit of telly now.”

He walked to the couch and sat, taking the remote in his hand to turn on the TV, the boy had followed him but stood there watching him with his head tilted, so he pat the space next to him, “you can sit, come on.”

The blonde did sit and he stared at Liam for a moment before turning to the TV when he heard the noise coming from it once Liam turned it on and made little surprised sound. So did he not know how TV’s worked either or…?

They didn’t say anything for a while and Liam just passed the time by changing the channels every second minute, throwing glances to the side to watch the other boy every now and then but he remained sitting with his legs crossed, his tail wrapped around his own body and staring at the TV, too caught up in it apparently.

He didn’t know how much time they spend like that, in silence, until Liam started to feel weariness washing over him, the footie match and then running under the rain and this boy.

“I’m going to bed,” he commented, standing up, “do you want to stay here and keep watching?” he handed the boy the remote and the boy shook his head, “no? come on then, I’ll show you your bed,” he gestured with his hand to follow him after turning off the TV.

Liam had a spare bedroom, it wasn’t that big as his own and it didn’t have a TV like his own either, but it’d do for now.

“Bed?” he heard the other boy whisper behind him as he walked towards the room.

“Here,” he opened the door and walked inside the spare bedroom, the other boy behind him and blinked, “you can sleep with those clothes.”

The blonde tilted his head to look at him confused and Liam looked at him just as confused.

“It’s for you to sleep in,” he explained cautiously, he didn’t know what the blank face meant.

The boy walked slowly to the bed and sat, jumping back up immediately when the mattress sank under him. Liam let out a small laugh and walked to the bed, moving the blankets, “lie here,” he explained and the blonde looked at him for a second before doing as he was told, first sitting slowly and then changing to a laying position before Liam threw the blankets over him, “comfortable?” he asked and the boy snuggled into the blankets with a soft purr.

“Okay, I’ll be gone in the morning, I’ve got work, yeah?” he explained and the boy looked up at him, “I’ll leave food for you and everything but I’ll wake you up in the morning before leaving, yes?” he added, he wanted to ask this boy so many questions but decided that today would be a waste of time, so he’d wait until tomorrow, maybe the blonde boy would feel a bit more comfortable around him and start talking more than one syllable words. “Did you understand me?” he asked a bit hesitant when the other boy didn’t react in any way to his previous words, but this time he nodded softly. “Alright then, goodnight,” he smiled down at him and turned around to leave, he had a lot of stuff to think about now.

“Niall,” came soft as a whisper and Liam turned to look at the boy again.

“What was that?” he questioned, moving closer as to hear properly.

The boy then moved to sit on the bed, taking his arm from under the blanket and pointed to his own chest with his index, “Niall,” he repeated.

Liam blinked and thought for a second before reacting, “Niall? Your name’s Niall?” he asked, just to be sure and the boy nodded. “Okay, Niall, have a good night sleep,” he smiled again and turned to leave, turning the light off just as he saw the boy laying down again and then closing the door behind him to head for his door.

Man, what did he get himself into?

*

When Liam woke up the next morning he was still tired, he didn’t have a proper rest last night and he woke up a bit earlier to prepare some food and explain the blonde who was sleeping on the next bedroom what to do while he was away at work. He couldn’t believe himself he was doing all of this.

He took a shower and drank coffee as he prepared a couple of sandwiches and left them in a hermetic bag on the fridge, then walked into his room again to change into his suit. He hated it, it was really cool at first, he felt super important wearing a suit to work, but after a while he started to hate it, he had to take it to some washing place cause he couldn’t wash it at home, and it was too hot during summer for it but too cold during winter to wear it and sometimes it got super uncomfortable, but it’s not like he had some other choice.

Once he was all changed and ready, his briefcase ready too, he walked to the spare room, knocking softly on it, pretty sure already that he wouldn’t get an answer so he just walked in and turned the light on the nightstand on. He didn’t expect what he saw and his heart broke a little. The boy on his side, in a ball position, his knees to his chest and hands grabbing his head, as if he was scared, but he was actually asleep, it was horrible to see, the blankets only covering a small part of his body.

“Hey, Niall,” he spoke softly and let his hand touch his arm just a little and the boy suddenly jumped awake with a whimper and flinched away, “hey hey, it’s just me!” Liam tried to hide the panic in his voice and the blonde seemed to realize everything was fine, his expression turning blank despite the sleepy face and blinked at him. Liam sighed, relieved that he wasn’t going to confront a scared kid or something. “Can you get up for a minute, I’ll explain really quick where the food is and all and then you can go back to sleep, yes?”

The boy looked at him confused for a second, it was probably because he wasn’t fully awake but nodded after a bit. He looked so cute Liam wanted to slap himself just thinking about it.

“So, here’s the cereal and the milk is in the fridge, so you can get breakfast when you get up later,” he explained as they walked into the kitchen and pointing to the cereal box on the table, he had left it there on purpose so it would be easier for the blonde to find it. “Then there are sandwiches I made you for lunch, I didn’t know what you like so I made a few different ones,” he threw him a small smile which was reciprocated by a small sleepy one.

They walked out of the kitchen and to the living room, stopping next to the sofa and the small coffee table, “you remember how to turn the TV on?” he wasn’t even sure if he knew so how would he remember? Liam had just turned it on the day before, maybe Niall hadn’t been looking. He got a nod as a response though, “yeah? Show me?” he asked, just to be sure.

The blonde looked around for a minute until he located the remote laying on the small table then took it and pressed the red button, the TV turning on immediately.

“Great,” Liam smiled at him, “you’ll be fine until I get back from work then,” he nodded, thinking if there was something else he wanted to say, “oh! I left my phone number here in case you need anything,” he pointed to a small piece of paper laying next to the phone near the TV, it wasn’t like the boy was going to call him anyways, he barely even talked to him. “Alright, you can go back to bed now, yeah?”

The blonde blinked but didn’t do anything for a second, “Liam,” he nodded slightly then and Liam was about to ask what but he was stopped when Niall stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his middle. Liam froze for a second, not sure of what to do but reacted quickly, wrapping his arms around the other boy’s body loosely, feeling the tail coming around to wrap around him too.

It was a short moment before Niall let go, nodding again and walking towards the room again, Liam following him to check he’d be fine. The blonde laid on the bed and covered himself with the blankets, snuggling into them as if he had never done it before and Liam bended over to run a hand through the boy’s hair, it was out of reflex, he didn’t even think about it.

“Sleep well, kitten,” he whispered and got an almost too loud purr from the boy, probably because he had just scratched behind his ear.

He turned the light off and walked out the room closing the door behind himself, then froze for a millisecond for the second time that morning, where did that nickname even came from?

*

“You’ve got _what_ in your house?!” Louis whispered yelled at Liam, making him sigh, he shouldn’t have told him.

“You heard me,” Liam mumbled through gritted teeth, “I just don’t know what to do! Is there like- a place for them or what do I do?”

“I don’t think there is, bro,” Zayn commented with an apologetic expression.

“Well, I can’t just kick him out now!”

“Mate, not gonna lie, this is really fucked up,” Louis said, drinking from his coffee. Liam had decided to let his friends know and maybe ask for their advice about what to do.

“Well…” Zayn started, looking deep in thought, “you could always look for a family or someone like, pro-hybrids and give it to them if you don’t want to have him with you.”

“But how do I know they actually are and that they won’t hurt him?” Liam put his own cup down, “you should’ve seen his face when I found him, he was- I don’t know, he was frightened to death.”

“If you’re so attached already then you should keep him,” Zayn shrugged nonchalantly.

“But-“

“Just take him to a doctor and have him checked.”

“Zayn, he can’t have a- a hybrid!- in his house!” Louis turned to look at him as if his friend has grown two heads.

“Why not?” Zayn shrugged again as if he was something completely normal.

“’Cause it’s- it’s weird.”

“He’s really nice actually, you should come meet him, it’ll be good for him to meet people and know that not all the people are monsters.”

“Aw, look at you, mate, getting so worried about him already,” Zayn mocked him.

“Shut up,” Liam looked away from his friend’s face, not wanting to meet his eyes.

“Shit!” Louis stood up already, “meeting time, come on, lads!”

Both Liam and Zayn sighed and rolled their eyes, Louis had been bothering them about today’s meeting for who knows how long.

“You’re gonna get this, Tommo, don’t worry.”

“Yeah, you’re the best out there for this position.”

“Fuck, I hope I am,” Louis mumbled to himself as they made their way to the elevators to their meeting.

*

“Alright, just don’t overwhelm him too much, yeah?” Liam asked as they made their way to his floor in the building. Zayn had no problem coming to meet Niall, but they had to convince Louis to, but Liam really wanted to have his friend’s opinion on this matter because he was kind of lost about what to do.

He had just opened the door and stepped inside his flat when there was a loud noise coming from the kitchen that had him almost running there, leaving his friends to enter the living room and close the door. When he entered the kitchen, he saw the cupboard open and several stuff spread on the floor, he sighed, at least nothing was broken. But that wasn’t all, Niall was hiding in a corner of the kitchen, knees to his chest, and his head between them, his arms around his body and his tail wrapped around him all bushed up.

“Hey, what are you doing there?” he asked as softly as he could while approaching him carefully, to show him that he wasn’t angry.

“Please don’t h- hurt me,” it came as a soft whisper as the blonde pressed his body more into the corner to hide and Liam’s eyes went wide. Not only this was the most he’s ever talked but he thought he would _hurt_ him.

“No! I won’t- I would never, kitten, come on,” he extended his hand for him and Niall took it quickly, somehow feeling at ease around Liam instantly. “What did you want, hm?” he asked as he let go of the blonde once he was up, “the cookies?” he realized that it was the only thing that could be eaten without having to be cooked from all the things that were lying on the floor.

Niall nodded slowly and Liam handed the pack of cookies to him, getting a shy smile in return as his ear peaked from his hair. Liam loved that, it was so cute. Wait, _what_.

“You can go, I’ll clean this up real quick,” Liam told him as he got rid of the jacket of his suit.

“No,” the blonde shook his head, “help.”

“What?” Liam frowned in confusion, “what do you need help with?”

“No-“ it was Niall’s turn to burrow his frown, “I help.”

“Oh-“ the older boy blinked at him, “you want to help me cleaning this? You don’t have to, really, you can go.”

Niall blinked at stared at him and Liam didn’t know if he didn’t understand him or what, he was just about to ask when the blonde nodded and turned to walk away.

Liam had just bended forward to grab something from the floor when he heard a half surprised, half scared sound, and he stood up just in time to see Niall throwing the cookies to the floor and running to hide behind him, fisting his shirt in his hand.

“What-“ he turned to look at Niall, then ahead again to see his friends standing in the door of the kitchen, huh, he had forgotten about them, “oh, don’t worry about them, they are my friends,” he explained to the blonde who was still looking scared behind his back.

Zayn was standing there with a small smile on his lips that Liam wasn’t quite able to read and Louis just stood there half surprised half looking like he didn’t know what was going on.

No one moved for a moment but Liam then felt the grip on his shirt loose and Niall took a step to the side so he wasn’t standing behind him anymore, “friends?” he asked hesitantly.

“Yes,” Liam nodded and walked to his friends, “this is Zayn,” he pointed to the black haired lad, “and this one’s Louis,” he pointed to his other friend and Niall nodded, “they won’t hurt you, you can come say hi.”

The blonde approached them slowly, looking at them hesitantly until he was standing in front of them, “Zayn,” he tilted his head to look at the boy he had been introduced with that name and Zayn smiled at him, then looked at Louis, “Louis,” he blinked and Louis just smiled a bit, trying not to look too confused or weirded out by everything that was happening.

“You can go sit with them in the living, I’ll clean this up and be there in a minute,” Liam explained and his friends walked to the room, getting rid of their jackets and ties, sitting on the coach.

“Bring us something to drink, Liam!” Louis’ voice came from the living room and he rolled his eyes.

He only noticed that Niall hasn’t moved from his spot next to the door of the kitchen until he was almost done with cleaning and placing everything in place.

“Why didn’t you go to the living room?” he asked, placing a last can in the cupboard.

The blond shook his head not quickly, “stay.”

“You want me to stay?” Liam asked confused because where was he going to go anyways?

“I stay here,” Niall explained tilting his head then but Liam didn’t really understand either, it was so hard to get what he was thinking, did he not know how to speak proper or was he just playing this?

“Of course you can stay here.” Liam reassured him, not sure if that was what he meant.

“You helped-“ he interrupted himself and frowned as if he was thinking hard, “you helped _me_.”

Oh. Maybe he could actually talk properly. God, he had so many questions to ask him.

“You’re welcome,” he smiled a bit, not really sure if that was supposed to be a thanks, “I wanted to help you, but why didn’t you go to the living room?” he repeated himself.

“I stay,” Niall frowned the tiniest bit and his tail starting swinging from side to side, Liam was starting to think he did that when he was thinking or something, or when he had doubts.

“I know, you can stay.”

“No, I stay _here_ ,” Niall pointed to the floor of the kitchen.

“Oh! You stay _here_ with me in the kitchen!” Liam exclaimed, now understanding.

The blonde nodded, “with Liam.”

God, this boy was just so cute.

“Liam!” came Louis’ voice from the living room again, “where are our drinks?”

“I’m coming!” he huffed and walked to the fridge for a couple of beers, “you want something to drink?” he turned to the blonde.

Niall seemed to think about it for a second before his face lit up, “milk?” he whispered softly but his eyes were shining.

“Milk? Just milk?” Liam questioned confused as to why would he be so eager about milk but then again, the boy he was talking to was a tad special. Niall nodded, so he took out the milk and served it in a mug, “warm?” Niall nodded again and Liam put it in the microwave.

Once the milk was warm and he had carried the beers for his friends to the living room, they all sat, mostly talking about what Liam should do with Niall. The blonde boy seemed to be in his own little world though, looking around and watching them chat, frowning from time to time as he drank the milk from his mug happily, his tail swinging slightly and sometimes wrapping around Liam’s waist for short moments given that he was sitting next to him.

Actually, wherever Liam would go, he’ll go, he followed him around everywhere, it was so funny, if Liam stood up and walked to the kitchen, Niall would be right behind him; if he went to his bedroom, he’ll be right behind him too.

“You’re too attached already, it’s obvious,” Zayn commented as he chewed on some snacks Liam had brought from the kitchen, “you should keep him.”

“You think it’s not going to be a problem?” Liam asked hesitantly and throwing a side glance to Niall.

“Why should it be?” his friend shrugged, “he seems really attached to you already too.”

Liam sighed, “it’s just- I know so little about him… and he’s not… educated and what is he going to do while I’m here? I just-”

“He’s not a pet, Liam,” Zayn cut him, “he’ll learn. And I told you already, go see a doctor.”

“Doctor?” Niall whimpered and seemed frightened all of a sudden, his body changing into that ball position he seemed to be in so often, “Mean,” he sounded scared.

The three boys looked at each other and Liam turned to him and ran a hand through the blonde’s hair as a way to try to soothe him, “doctors are not mean, doctors are good and they help you,” he tried to explain as simple as possible.

“No,” Niall shook his head vigorously, “mean doctors.”

“But not all of them are mean,” this time it was Louis, he had even stood up from his spot on the sofa to kneel in front of the blonde. He was just about to touch his hair but stopped, he didn’t want to scare him more, so he looked at Liam for approval, and when he nodded, he petted his hair, “doctors help people, yes? Not all doctors are mean,” he spoke softly, and Liam understood then, Louis has always been really nice to kids, having so many sisters and all, and in a way, talking to Niall was like talking to a little kid.

“Not all?” Niall whispered and looked at him from behind his knees.

“Not all,” Liam smiled sweetly at him.

“Okay,” Niall nodded and relaxed, going back to sitting with his legs crossed.

After that, Louis and Zayn just stayed for a bit a longer, Louis claiming that he needed to make a stop at the grocery shop cause he had ran out of tea to drink in the mornings before going to work.

“Can I ask you something?” Liam asked once his friends were gone and he sat next to Niall again, and he nodded, “how old are you? Like… sixteen?” the blonde’s eyes went wide at that comment and shook his head quickly, “No? Seventeen?” he shook his head no again, “Eighteen?” he was starting to sound surprised, Niall shook his head again, “Nineteen?” and then the blonde nodded, “you’re _nineteen_?!” he exclaimed, maybe a bit too loud and amused because Niall then jumped a little and moved away, “sorry, sorry,” Liam calmed himself down,  “okay. What else…” Liam scratched his chin while thinking, “can you read?” he asked randomly.

“A bit,” Niall blushed and looked away.

“How about writing?”

“A bit,” he nodded briefly, still not looking up at Liam.

“Hey,” Liam’s voice was soft and he moved his hand to Niall’s chin, “that’s really good, kitten,” he smiled, “we can get you books and stuff if you want.”

“Really?” his ears appeared from out of his hair just a bit when Liam nodded, “thank you,” he whispered.

“You’re welcome, kitten,” he scratched behind his ear and the blonde let out a soft purr, “do you know your last name?” he asked, hoping this wouldn’t be too much.

Niall frowned for a second, not looking at Liam but straight ahead, “Horan,” he said after a moment of silence.

“And do you remember your family?” Liam asked, now running his hand through his hair, Niall leaning a bit towards him. Niall looked down sadly and shook his head no. “Oh, maybe we can look for them,” he commented and Niall just shrugged. “Uhm… I’m gonna ask this, but you don’t have to answer, okay?” Niall looked up at him with a cautious face and nodded slowly, so Liam let out a breath and spoke, “what did they do to you in there?” he tried to ask as calm as he could but it was no use, the hybrid’s body went rigid and then he started shaking his head furiously. “Okay, okay!” Liam tried to calm him down, “we don’t have to talk about that, I’m sorry, kitten, I’m sorry,” he went to wrap his arms around the blonde’s body and he had no idea where that sudden impulse came from, same as with the nickname, why was he this affectionate to a boy he had only met yesterday?

It took a couple of minutes until Niall calmed down and Liam let him go, and Liam was about to speak again, to ask him if he was alright, when his phone started ringing. He looked at the ID caller, Louis. He rolled his eyes and seriously thought about not answering because really, what could Louis need right now? It was probably something about work and he didn’t want to talk about that right now. But he still did anyway.

“Louis? What do you want n-“

“Liam, I need your help,” Louis voice came a bit agitated and nervous from the other side of the line.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Liam questioned as he sat straight on the sofa, now feeling alert.

“I’ve got one in my house,” Louis whispered into the phone.

“Huh?” Liam frowned even though his friend couldn’t see him.

“I’ve got a hybrid at home,” Louis repeated, this time a bit louder and clearer.

“You’ve got _what_ in your house?” Liam mocked him with what he had asked him earlier that day.

“Liam, it’s not funny, what am I supposed to do?!” he sounded a bit desperate.

“Nothing, same as I did, just treat him like any other person.”

“Yeah, right, ‘cause you treat Niall just like you treat me.” Liam could almost see Louis rolling his eyes at him.

“It’s different-“ he started but decided it was not worth it so he changed the topic back to what Louis told him, “where is he now?”

“He’s having a shower.”

“Are you sure? Niall didn’t know how to make the shower work,” he explained and turned to look at Niall who was just staring at him, listening.

“What do you mean he didn’t know how to make it work-“

“Just go check, believe me.”

“Alright, alright, I’m checking,” Louis said and then Liam could hear steps and some ruffling and a knock on the door and ‘why are you not- wait’ before Louis’ voice was back on the line, “right, I’ll call you in a bit. Or you should just come over. Bring Niall.”

“Great, maybe they know each other.”

“You don’t know every person in the world, Payno, what makes you think they do?”

“Just a thought. See you in a bit,” he answered his friend before hanging up, then turned to look at Niall with a smile, “we’re going for a ride, yeah?”

“Ride?” his ears appeared from under his hair again and he seemed excited, he was just like a child.

“That we are,” Liam smiled before standing up and grabbing the keys to his car.

*

Louis had explained that he was on his way out of the store after leaving Liam’s house when he saw some guys cornering someone that looked way smaller than him, and then he heard a gasp, one of pain, and okay, he wasn’t a big guy or scary by any means but he could still try to get the guys away, he couldn’t just see something like this happening and walk away, could he? So he had yelled something like “hey! Leave him alone or I’ll call the police!” because really, what else could he have done? So these guys turned to look at him with crazy eyes, they were probably high or something, he thought, but they still ran away. He then approached the other guy, and at first he thought it was a kid, shying away and whimpering softly but then he realized that _oh,_ fuck Liam, he had gotten himself a hybrid. And gotten himself one, because the boy looked at him and then he just couldn’t leave him there, he wasn’t that heartless. It didn’t take him too long to convince the boy to get him to come with him so he could help him, and now there he was, with an individual with a tail and cat ears living in his house.

Turned out, Niall and the other hybrid did know each other. They had actually been friends apparently, cause as soon as Liam and Niall stepped into Louis’ flat and the other boy came into view, the blonde made a surprised sound, his ears peaking out of his head fully and running to the other boy who was just as surprised as Niall was. They hugged, it was cute to see, with their tails wrapping around each other and their small ears appearing.

His name was Harry and he was the same age as Niall, but he talked a little bit more. He and Niall had sat next to each other on one sofa, almost cuddling into each other, making something stir up inside Liam, something like jealousy. But he couldn’t be jealous, couldn’t he?

“Maybe one of us should keep them both, or they can live at yours and mine, moving from time to time so we divide the expenses but they get to stay together,” Louis explained, already starting to plan everything out without even consulting.

“Mate, I don’t think that’s- no, that’ll be a hell lot of money, we can’t, and maybe they don’t even want to, we should ask them first.”

“I don’t think they won’t want to,” Louis turned to look at the two other boys who were quietly chatting between them, it wasn’t even able to hear from where they were sitting, “look at them, they look so happy.”

Liam just rolled his eyes, and turned to the boys, “Niall, do you want to move in here so you can be with Harry?” he just kind of blurted out and Niall looked shocked, eyes wide and still for a second before shaking his head and quickly moving to sit on Liam’s lap.

“Liam,” the blonde wrapped his whole body around Liam’s and hid his face in his neck, “You helped, I stay. Yes?”

Liam was shocked, to say the least, he slowly moved his arms to hug Niall back but this was such a big demonstration of affection from the boy, he felt so loved all of a sudden. He turned to look at Louis who was looking at him with a small mischievous smile.

“You want to come with me then, Harry?” Liam turned to look at Harry and the boy shook his head no too, slowly moving to sit next to Louis.

“Louis saved Harry, stay with Louis.”

“I think you’ve got your answer there, mate,” Liam laughed and Louis rolled his eyes at him. It was all decided then.

“Liam?” the older boy could feel the blonde’s breath against the skin of his neck as he talked.

“Yes?”

“We visit Harry, yes?”

“Of course, Niall, we’ll visit him, he’s your friend, isn’t he?”

“Yes. Harry is my friend,” he nodded and lifted his face to look at Liam. That was probably the first actual sentence he got right.

*

A week and a half had passed since Niall started living at Liam’s and the older boy had been peppering Niall with stuff, he had made him tried lots of different food, always getting a positive response, the boys seemed to love whatever was on his plate. He bought him a couple of books, for kids mostly at first, then a couple for grownups, more like teenagers but never those ones that were horribly long, and Niall had been reading them; at first he had been reluctant to read them aloud because he was too embarrassed to do it in front of Liam, but with a lot of encouraging words and sort of cuddles, he convinced him to do it, and he wasn’t half as bad as he thought it’ll be, he could actually read pretty well. Niall hated it though,

“Boring,” he had commented once he was finished reading a book and Liam turned to look at him.

“You don’t like reading?”

“No, it’s boring,” he shook his head, “writing’s better.”

“Is it?” Liam gave him a smug smile, “but you know what?” he wrapped his arm around Niall’s shoulders, “your talking has gotten a lot better since you started reading.”

“Better?” Niall looked at him, his eyes shining proudly.

“A lot better! You know what? We should celebrate this.” Liam stood up and Niall followed him.

“Celebrate?” the blonde asked confused, it was true, he had gotten a lot better at talking but sometimes stuff still confused him and it was really cute to witness.

“Yes, with milkshakes!”

“Milkshake!” Niall exclaimed happily and hugged the older boy. “Liam,” he mumbled against his chest just as Liam laughed at the smaller boy’s enthusiasm and hugged him back. He had gotten used to it, Niall would always say his name at random times but mostly when he hugged him, not that they did it too often, but Liam thought that Niall said his name in a reassuring way, something to himself, like he felt safe in there. And Liam certainly wanted to make him feel safe, he had gotten used to Niall and he was so fond of him already without any apparent reason. Actually, there were no reasons needed, just a look at Niall’s face and everyone would be fond of him. Louis and Zayn were even fond of him already!

Writing was more Niall’s thing, Liam would sit next to him on the kitchen table and watch him scribble down random words. His handwriting was a bit raw, but he was getting better at it and Liam was always there correcting his spelling, which had Niall smiling shyly before erasing and writing the word again, but at least he looked like he liked it better. It was like school, really, and the thought of Niall going to school had crossed his mind, but the boy was too shy and too scared (even when he didn’t show it around Liam anymore) to go out there and do things on his own yet, after all he’s just been with Liam for less than two weeks.

Harry had been visiting a lot, almost every day, or Niall would go visit, Louis and Liam even came to the conclusion that it was better to leave them together while they were away at work, most of the time they just found them sitting on the couch watching TV and chewing on something when they were back.

 

Louis and Liam had arranged a meeting with a doctor for a week later, because really, after whatever these boys have been through, they needed to know they were healthy and okay. Their visit to the doctor hadn’t been all sunshine and rainbows though…

“No!” Niall exclaimed, flinching away from the nurse that was supposed to take a blood sample to run some tests. Liam sighed, everything had gone so smooth so far despite the blonde’s fear, but he had behaved really well. He was a bit scared at first, but Liam had held his hand and reassured him that he wasn’t going anywhere so he’ll be okay. Niall looked doubtful at first but he had let them check his reflex, and opened his mouth when he was told by the doctor, and laid down in the stretcher when he was told. But as soon as he was told they’d need to run some blood tests check everything was fine, he went crazy.

“Ni, I’m sorry, I know you don’t lik-“

“No! No needles!” Niall was pressing himself against the wall, sitting his knees to his chest and his eyes a bit watery, trying to hide away from the nurse who was watching at Liam with sad eyes.

“Can you give us a minute, please?” Liam asked the nurse and she nodded, walking out of the room.

“Hey, kitten, come here,” Liam sat on the edge of the stretcher, opening his arms for Niall to move in closer. And the blonde did, he moved until he was pressed to Liam’s side, hugging him awkwardly.

“Don’t like needles,” he mumbled against Liam’s chest.

“I know you don’t, but I need to know you’re healthy, can you do this for me?” he asked softly but he didn’t get any answer from Niall. He ran a hand through his hair, thinking of what he could say to make him change his mind when an idea popped into his mind, “look, the nurse can do this real quickly and then we can go buy ice cream, do you like that plan?”

“Ice cream?” Niall looked up at him with a frown. Right, he hasn’t had ice cream in forever, which meant Niall hadn’t tried it yet.

“Yes, it’s the best thing in the world, I promise you’re gonna like it.”

“How’s it?” Niall asked curious.

“Sweet, and really, really tasty.”

“Sweet? Like milkshakes?”

“Better than milkshakes!” Liam exclaimed, trying to get Niall into accepting the deal.

“Better?!” Niall looked at him with an amused face.

“Yes, much better, I love ice cream.”

The blonde blinked and seemed to be thinking about it for a second before nodding, “okay. But Liam stays.”

“Of course I’ll stay.” Liam smiled, slipping down of the stretcher and going to open the door to look for the nurse.

It was okay in the end, Niall had fisted his hand in Liam’s shirt and hid his face in the crook of his neck while extending his free arm for the nurse. Liam had chuckled and ran his hand up and down the blonde’s back to calm him.

“It’s done,” the nurse commented when it she was finished and Niall looked up with his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Done?”

“Uh huh,” Liam nodded, “did it hurt?”

“No,” Niall shook his head, “ice cream?” Liam laughed at that, of course Niall would be anxious about trying new stuff.

“In a moment,” the nurse interrupted them with a small smile as he place a tiny bandaid on his arm, “I’d like to talk to Liam for a second.”

Niall blinked though, not really understanding that she meant she needed to talk to Liam alone.

“Go wait outside with Louis and Harry, yes? Then we’ll go have ice cream.”

“Okay,” Niall nodded, slipping down the stretcher and walking out of the room.

“This will be quick, don’t worry,” the nurse assured Liam as she finished organizing everything for the test, “just- take this as an advice, alright? Some people had come here with hybrids during the past couple of weeks, just… don’t treat him as a pet, I know they are cute and innocent but we’ve got a lot of doctors here that worked with them in the past and they are just as capable to learn and behave like any other person, they just have a lot to be taught,” the nurse explained while moving around, not really looking at Liam while speaking.

“I know,” Liam sighed, “I’ve been helping him with reading and writing and all that basic stuff, I don’t know what they did to them, but he didn’t even know how a shower or the TV worked at first…”

“Awful things, they ran tests on the for decades, you know that already,” she explained briefly, not seeming like she wanted to get into details before pausing, “they wanted to know how they evolved and grew up but never really taught them stuff from daily life that’s why they don’t know how to do anything.”

“I’m glad they are fine now,” Liam let out a relived breath.

“I guess,” she shrugged, “they are scared about everything, I don’t know if that’s proper living.”

“I’d rather have him scared than in one of those awful labs.”

“Right you are there. Well, that’s all I wanted to tell you, take care of him. The results will be ready next week.”

“Alright, thank you very much,” Liam nodded politely before walking out of the room.

“Liam!” Niall stood up from the chair he has been sitting next to Harry and hugged him.

“I’ve been gone for only a minute!” Liam laughed, hugging Niall back.

“Missed you,” the blonde muttered against his chest, making another laugh come out of Liam. “Ice cream?”

“How persistent,” Liam rolled his eyes fondly, “we wait for Harry and Louis and then we all go for ice cream, yes, kitten?”

“We’re going for ice cream?” Louis asked confused.

“Oh, believe me, you’ll have to convince him with something,” Liam nodded his head in his friend’s direction.

“Convince him to-“ Louis was about to ask what Liam was all about when Harry’s name was called in.

“Good luck, mate,” Liam laughed slightly as Louis walked Harry into the doctor’s office.

 

“I love ice cream!” Niall exclaimed as he ate happily from his cone. Liam had gotten him a vanilla and chocolate one because those were the tastes that could never go wrong; and he was right, Niall loved it. He loved ice cream more than milkshakes.

“Can we-“ Niall started, frowning as he thought, that seemed to be something he did often, “can we get this home?”

“What? Ice cream?” Liam looked at him over his cone.

“Yes,” Niall nodded fast.

“If you want, we can, yes,” why not? “But you can’t eat that much or you’ll stomach will hurt.”

“Tummy?” Niall asked with wide eyes and suddenly seeming scared as he looked at the ice cream in his hand.

“But only if you eat too much, I won’t let that happen.” Liam reassured the boy and he nodded hesitantly before finishing his ice cream.

“Can we, Lou?” Harry asked excitedly too.

“Uh… I guess we can, yeah,” Louis nodded, he always seemed to be at a loss of words when it came to Harry, “Liam, look at the things you made me do!” he turned to look at Liam, faking an upset face.

“I told you you’d had to convince him some way,” Liam laughed.

They made their way to Liam’s flat once they were done with their cute ice cream date (even if they didn’t want to call it that) because Niall and Harry didn’t want to say goodbye yet, so with a roll of his eyes, Louis said they could go to Liam’s for a bit. Harry had made a happy sound and kissed his cheek.

Now Liam and Louis were sitting in the living room, watching some footie game, ‘a bit’ have turned into a long while and Niall and Harry were somewhere in Niall’s room chatting. Both boys had decided that it was okay to let them have their time, to let them talk and share, knowing that what they’ve been through and what they were going through now must be overwhelming.

Louis was screaming something at the TV because some player had fucked up a perfect play when Harry came running into the living room and sat in Louis’ lap. Just as the older boy was about to ask what all that was about, Harry had leaned over and mumbled something in his ear, Louis’ face going from confused to a smug smile.

Liam wanted to ask what the hell was going on just as Niall entered the room, “don’t tell Liam,” he mumbled with pleading eyes to Louis who just kept that knowing smile on his face.

“What? I demand to know what’s going on,” Liam frowned at the rest of them.

“Niall doesn’t want me to tell you, sorry Liam.”

That’s how Liam spent the rest of the time while Louis was in there to try to get him to tell what Harry had said to him. It was no use though, he couldn’t get a word out. But Niall was upset though, he didn’t talk to Harry anymore for the rest of the time, no matter how hard Harry tried to get his attention, Niall would turn away and not talk to him anymore.

“Alright, we’re going,” Louis announced as he stood up and looked for Harry.

“But-“ Harry pouted, “Niall is mad.”

“He’ll come around, don’t worry, Harry,” Liam reassured him, “he’ll be okay again in no time, you’ll see, you can come visit tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” Harry mumbled and nodded, walking next to Louis.

“I’ll go open the door for them and be back in a minute, alright Ni?” he told Niall who just nodded in response.

They made their way down on the elevator, Harry just looking down and sad, Louis shaking his head no defeated.

“You go wait in the car for a minute, would you, Harry? I need to talk to Liam for a moment.” Louis instructed and watched Harry walk in the direction of the car, getting into the passenger seat.

“What’s up-“

“So long story short, Niall wants to kiss you.”

“You- Niall- _what?_ ” Liam asked with a confused frown and his nose scrunching up a bit.

“What you heard, do as you please with that information! Bye!” Louis patted his shoulder and waved before walking away and getting into his car, leaving Liam standing at the door of the building, shocked and not sure about what to do with that now.

*

Of course he hadn’t done anything, he hadn’t even mentioned to Niall that he knew what Louis had told him, his life kept on going as if nothing had happened. And in reality, nothing had happened, but his mind kept replaying the words again and again during the days, not knowing what to do with that information.

They had gotten the results on Niall’s blood test, and everything was fine, except for the fact that he was a bit anemic, so the doctor gave them a list of things the blonde should eat more often. That was the first time they found something Niall didn’t like at all. Chickpeas. But other than that, the rest of the foods were things he could eat with no problem.

Niall and he had gotten a lot close, they had been all along, but they were getting to the point where they were cuddling most of the time. The blonde had gotten better at reading and writing, and most of the time, he just sat on Liam’s lap to read some book Liam had bought him. It felt really nice, being close to someone this way, but Liam felt unsure and he didn’t know how to act because after all, Niall had had a hard life and he didn’t want to do anything to scare or hurt him, and in addition to this, they had known each other now for how long, a month? He seriously needed to get a grip on his mind.

 

Liam had no idea what time it was but it was still dark in his room when he heard soft footsteps walking inside his room, his mind went into overdrive immediately, thinking that someone had broken into his flat and wanted to rob him. He needed to keep Niall safe. His heart felt like it was beating a million times faster than usual and he was about to sit on the bed to try and turn the light on his nightstand on when the footsteps stopped.

“Liam?” a soft voice he knew very well spoke. He let out a breath, he’s never felt so relieved. He turned the light on, looking up to find a scared Niall.

“Come here, kitten,” he told him, now feeling a lot more relaxed knowing that nothing could happen and opening the blankets for Niall to get into bed with him.

Niall looked hesitant as he got into bed, Liam throwing the blankets over them again and turning the light off. He pulled the blonde closer to him, running a hand through his hair just as he felt Niall’s tail circling around his waist, he had gotten so used to that feeling by now. The blonde let out a shaky breath as he snuggled closer to Liam, his hands fisting the shirt of the older boy.

Liam felt like he was ready to fall asleep again anytime now after a couple of minutes of doing nothing but petting the blonde’s hair, but there was surely a reason why Niall had woke him up in the middle of the night, and he wanted to know what it was.

“What happened, kitten?” he asked, his voice already heavy with sleep and eyes closed.

“Scared,” Niall mumbled against the skin of his neck.

“Why?”

“Bad dream,” he mumbled again, pressing his body impossibly closer to Liam’s as his hand fisted his shirt tighter.

“Want to tell me about it?” Liam’s voice was still groggy but he was paying close attention to the blonde’s answers, not wanting him to feel unsafe.

There was silence, and Liam actually thought he wouldn’t get any answer from Niall but then he whispered, “mean doctors.”

“But there are no mean doctors anymore, kitten, and I’m here to protect you.”

Niall nodded then whispered, “Liam,” as he let go of his shirt and wrapped his arm around the older boy’s middle.

Liam pulled away just a bit to look down at Niall just as his blue eyes looked up at him. It was really dark, the only light in the room coming from the space between the curtains. He didn’t know how long they stared at each other, it could’ve been thirty seconds or half an hour but then he leaned that tiny bit closer, not really realizing it until their lips were millimeters away. He stopped there for a second, thinking about the consequences this could have, but in the end he found none, because he loved this blonde boy and he was pretty sure that by now, he returned the feelings too. He closed the gap then, pressing his lips softly against Niall’s, earning a small, surprised sound from him. None of them moved, they just stayed like that for a moment, their hearts beating frantically in their chests for as long as their lips were connected and ever for a while after they pulled apart.

He smiled at Niall when they broke the kiss, and Niall smiled back shyly and with slightly blushed cheeks, or at least that’s what he had been able to see in the dark of his room. Niall moved his head to fit it under Liam’s chin and that’s how they fell asleep that night.

 

It had turned into a habit, sleeping together. Niall never used the spare bedroom anymore, at first he sneaked into Liam’s bed and snuggled close to his body but after a couple of days, Liam had just told him it was okay for him to just sleep in there.

The blonde didn’t sleep in that horrible ball position anymore, instead he always woke up in Liam’s arm or alternatively lying across or on top of Liam in some weird position. More than once Liam had woken up trying to catch his breath because Niall’s whole body was resting on top of him and he couldn’t breathe properly. Not that the blonde was fat, the exact opposite actually, but it was still a weight on top of his chest that was keeping him from breathing.

They kissed a lot, Liam didn’t say it aloud, but he loved it, he loved the feeling it gave him. But Niall… he was a whole different story. He had become demanding, sometimes wanting to kiss Liam all the time or in places where it shouldn’t have been appropriate. He’d pout when Liam would say no, but then when they were alone again, Liam would pull him close and kiss his pouting lips. They kissed good morning, hello, goodbye, goodnight, while watching movies and whenever they could, really, but they were chaste, innocent kisses, and Liam loved the fact that it was so pure that they were more than okay with it.

*

At some point, Liam had asked Niall if he wanted to look for his family and Niall had looked lost after that question, not because he didn’t understand, he had gotten so much better, not only at reading or writing or talking, but also at thinking and understanding, it wasn’t like talking to a kid anymore, and it had been a shock to Liam when he realized that, but he was so proud of Niall for accomplishing that.

Anyway, the blonde didn’t answer Liam’s question right away, instead, he asked him to give him a couple of days to think about it. Liam had told him yes, of course, but he was a little worried that he had maybe touched a sensitive topic.

Niall told him no a couple of days later that he didn’t want to look for his family because he was scared that they wouldn’t want him back or that _he_ wouldn’t like them. “You’re my family,” Niall had muttered into Liam chest then and the older boy felt like his chest would explode, Niall actually considered him that important.

It was a relief for Liam (as bad as it sounded) because he had been searching for Niall’s parents for a while now, he just didn’t let him know about it, but came across nothing, no trace about them. Maybe Niall will want to know someday, but they’d deal with that later, for now, Liam was Niall’s family and he was more than okay with that, leaving aside the fact that the word “family” made him feel a bit strange, considering that they kissed and cuddled and all, but it was fine, he could live with that.

*

It was unexpected, they had been sitting on the living room with the lights off and popcorn and watching a movie. It was Sunday and it was cloudy outside so they opted to stay at home and watch a movie just like they did so often. Niall had been sitting almost on Liam’s lap while he scratched behind his ears, letting out a keen sound or a purr from time to time as his tail was swinging softly. Liam pressed a kiss to his lips then, sighing at the contact and Niall sat up from his position, causing Liam to look at him puzzled.

“Everything alright, Ni?”

“When kiss- when _we_ kiss,” Niall corrected himself, he still did that a lot after learning that pronouns were actually important when talking and Liam thought it was really cute, “funny feeling.”

Funny feeling? What was that even supposed to mean?

“What kind of funny feeling?” Liam questioned and looked a bit taken aback by the comment, worried that Niall didn’t like sharing kisses anymore.

“My tummy,” he explained and placed a hand over his stomach, “weird feeling.”

Liam smiled then, understanding where this was going, “I get a funny feeling too,” he whispered, somehow it felt like it should be a secret between the two of them.

Niall’s eyes went wide though, “good?” he asked with a worried tone.

Liam let out a brief laugh and his eyes crinkled, “definitely good, kitten, don’t worry.”

“Oh,” the blonde blinked and looked at him for a moment, “what is- what is _it_?” he tilted his head to the side.

“Love.” Liam explained simply as if he was the most common thing in the world. Maybe it was.

“Love?” Niall furrowed his brow and looked as cute as he ever did whenever he was deep in thought. Liam didn’t say anything though, he knew that Niall needed time to process certain information and this was a new concept so he let him be. After a moment, his face became soft again, “love,” he nodded in understanding and earned a smile from Liam, then went back to his previous position of cuddling the older boy, resting his head against his neck and Liam’s hands flew like magnets to his hair again. “Liam,” Niall mumbled just as he always did when he felt close to him.

Liam didn’t have words to explain what love was to Niall, but he was sure he could feel it as strong as he did whenever they were together. So in other words, this was way different from what Liam had planned for his life, but looking down to see Niall’s arms wrapped around his body and hearing those little purrs he let out, he knew he wouldn’t change it for the world.

**Author's Note:**

> did I or did I not tell you how awkward this was?


End file.
